This invention relates to a novel improved lid for dispensing chain or cordage from a pail. The improved lid allows a user access to the chain or cordage within the pail without removing the entire lid and provides a means for retaining the end of the chain or cordage in an easily accessible position for the next user.
Chain or cordage is typically shipped to wholesalers and retailers in plastic containers or pails with a lid or top having a lip which secures to a rim on the pail. These lids are plastic also and are typically removed by making a series of vertical cuts in the lip of the lid at designated points molded in the lid. Once the lid is removed the entire contents of the pail are removed. This method is acceptable if the entire contents of the pail are to be used at once. Often however a retailer will sell only a few feet of the chain or cordage and wishes to keep the remaining chain or cordage in the pail and have the loose end of the chain or cordage accessible for the next customer.
Prior methods of dispensing the chain or cordage have required the lid to be removed as described above, fishing or threading the loose end of the remaining chain or cordage through a small opening in the lid, replacing the lid on the pail and tying the loose end of chain or cordage to prevent its falling back into the pail. The disadvantages of this method include the lid once cut as described above does not fit securely on the pail rim when replaced, and should the loose end of the chain or cordage fall into the pail the opening is too small to allow the customer to reach into the pail and retrieve the loose end without removing the lid. This method also requires the loose end of the chain or cordage to be retied after each use to prevent its falling into the pail. The present invention overcomes these problems by providing a novel lid for a pail with an easily removable opening in the lid which provides easy hand access to the chain or cordage without removing the lid and provides a convenient retainer for the loose end of the chain or cordage. With the novel lid, the customer is able to see the contents of the pail and is more likely to make a purchase than the prior art pail in which the customer often could not see the contents of the pail.